Intentions to Marry, 1890

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840402, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 643

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1890

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
175	20 May 1890	Thomas Meammore Ellen Condon	Thomas Mannion Ellen Condon 💍 1890/1927	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	30 27	Christchurch Christchurch	8 years 8 years	Roman Catholic Chapel	90/1548		20 May 1890	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic
176	21 May 1890	William Gimblett Sarah Kitchingman	William Gimblett Sarah Kitchingman 💍 1890/1873	Widower Spinster	Gardener Housekeeper	45 33	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 28 years	Wesleyan Chapel	90/1563		21 May 1890	Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan
177	21 May 1890	John White Sarah Jacobs	John White Sarah Jacobs 💍 1890/1897	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 30	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 7 years	Registrars Office	90/1588		21 May 1890	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson
178	22 May 1890	William Robson Sarah Anne Elizabeth Dixon	William Robson Sarah Ann Elizabeth Dixon 💍 1890/1880	Bachelor Spinster	Coach-builder Dressmaker	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	26 years 8 years	House of Mrs. Dixon	90/1565		21 May 1890	Rev. J. Macfarlane, Methodist
179	22 May 1890	Richard Henry Allen Elizabeth Bell	Richard Henry Allan Elizabeth Bell 💍 1890/1886 John Kelman Elizabeth Bell 💍 1890/3430	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	25 22	Christchurch Christchurch	25 years 4 months	Registrars Office	90/1587		22 May 1890	Registrar of Marriage, J. W. Parkerson
180	22 May 1890	Melpyn Bonarwright Agnes Dann	McGregor Bonan Wright Agnes Dann 💍 1890/1944	Bachelor Spinster	Carver & Gilder	28 21	Dunedin Christchurch	3 years 21 years	St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch	90/1541		22 May 1890	Ven. Archdeacon Lingard, Church of England
181	23 May 1890	Thomas Frederick George Phillis Mary Ellen Mitchell	Thomas Frederick George Phillis Mary Ellen Mitchell 💍 1890/1844	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 18	Papanni Papanni	21 years 17 years	House of Andrew Mitchell	90/1525	Andrew Mitchell, Father	23 May 1890	Rev. E. H. Handage, Wesleyan
182	23 May 1890	Joseph Fletcher Ellen Savage	Joseph Fletcher Ellen Savage 💍 1890/3538	Bachelor Spinster	Fruiterer	21 19	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 12 years	Wesleyan Church, Colombo Road, Sydenham	90/1503	Father	23 May 1890	Rev. J. R. Gitt, Wesleyan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).